French Pro A Round 4 Recap
The French Pro A league is a fiercely competitive league. Four games into the 2016-17 season and only two teams remain with untarnished records. JSF Nanterre got the 90-70 blow-out win at home over Le Mans Sarthe Basket over the weekend to notch their fourth straight victory. It was the second loss for Le Mans, putting their current record at an even 2-2. AS Monaco Basket retains the league leadership after dispatching with Hyeres-Toulon Var Basket in convincing fashion, 84-68. The loss sends Hyeres-Toulon tumbling down the league standings with their sluggish 1-3 start for the season.
Hot on the trail of the league leaders are the Sharks Antibes, Paris-Levallois, and Pau-Lacq-Orthez. These three teams round out the Top 5 of the French Pro A standings with 3-1 records and wins in this round as well. Antibes edged out Entente Orleans 45 thanks to a big comeback rally in the fourth quarter to seize a 76-70 win. Paris-Levallois handed Dijon its second loss of the season with a crushing 77-51 win at home. They took an early lead and did not look back. When it came down to the fourth and final period Dijon collapsed and was overwhelmed by the Parisian offense. Tyler Harris dropped 20 points in an efficient scoring effort for Paris-Levallois. Gravelines got to a hot start against Pau-Lacq-Orthez, but they would crumble and squander their 12-point lead after the first quarter. Ronald Lewis scored a game-high 23 points to spearhead the Pau-Lacq-Orthez attack. Gravelines is now in 13th place in the standings with their 1-3 record.
The last game of the round was an exciting duel between Limoges CSP Elite and Cholet Basket. A solid, well-rounded team effort by the visiting club from Cholet propelled them to a 72-79 win. Good ball movement allowed five of their players to score in double figures. They used a huge run in the second period to set the context of the game. Cholet had to overcome a 30-point monster game William Buford, who did his best to will his team into contention. His heroics would not be enough to offset his lack of support from the reserves. He accounted for half of his team’s shots from beyond the three-point arc, going 6-for-11 from downtown. Both teams are now in the middle of the pack with identical 2-2 slates.
Strasbourg IG finally got their first notch in the win column with a tight victory over Le Portel, 75-71. Strasbourg played aggressively and were rewarded with 22 free points from the charity stripe to keep them in the game. Mouhammadou Jaiteh posted a double-double with 14 points and 13 rebounds to lead Strasbourg. Franklin Hassell paced Le Portel with 16 points and 10 boards of his own.
Sluc Nancy Basket Pro also got on the board with their 59-69 win over Chalon. A massive second quarter gave them the needed momentum to get a huge lead and Chalon was on the backfoot ever since. Chalon tried to unsuccessfully sip from the three-point well one time too many, with the team going 1-for-18 from deep. Those missed shots came back to haunt them in the end.
Catch Round 5 action on the 21st.